Families await news on their homes after neighborhood gas explosion Several families in a northwest Springfield neighborhood are trying to find out when or if they'll be able to move back into their homes.

Eureka Springs School Board sets election for new high school The plan would raise property taxes.

Arkansas state senator from Jasper suggests legalizing marijuana Sen. Randy Laverty says it might be a way to curb overcrowding in the state's prisons.

Pulaski County sheriff's deputy receives Medal of Valor Deputy Donald Hayden was shot four times while protecting some citizens from a rampaging attacker.

Osage Beach police arrest intoxicated man with guns, knives in car Police arrested Jason Brewer after getting a report that he was stalking a woman.

AWOL soldier faces terroristic threat charge in Sedalia A school official says Michael Frederick made a false warning about escaped convicts.

Senate Dems moving ahead on crucial health vote (AP)
AP - With no margin for rebellion, Senate Democrats pushed toward a crucial weekend test vote on their sweeping health care bill Friday, and wavering moderates appeared to be falling in line on President Barack Obama's signature issue.

Police: NC girl raped, killed on day she was taken (AP)
AP - A 5-year-old North Carolina girl was raped and killed the same day she was taken from her home, according to an arrest warrant released Friday. Shaniya Davis was sexually assaulted and asphyxiated Nov. 10, the day her mother reported her missing from the trailer park where she was staying, according to the warrant. Authorities embarked on a nearly weeklong search that ended when the girl's body was found dumped off a rural road.

Floods devastate UK Lake District, much of Ireland (AP)
AP - Raging floods engulfed northern England's picturesque Lake District on Friday following the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in Britain, killing a police officer and trapping dozens in their swamped homes.

Afghan police are weak link in security force (AP)
AP - Underpaid, under-equipped and under-trained, Afghanistan's 93,000-member police force is the weak link in an ambitious security strategy to hand over defense of the country to Afghans so American and other foreign troops can go home.

Tamiflu-resistant swine flu cluster reported in NC (AP)
AP - Four North Carolina patients at a single hospital tested positive for a type of swine flu that is resistant to Tamiflu, health officials said Friday. The cases reported at Duke University Medical Center over six weeks make up the biggest cluster seen so far in the U.S.